Baffled European

Category: Tyranny

  • Legal difficulties

    Law firms were an early target for the administration. The criminals see the law as either a hindrance or a tool they can use for oppression. They need to control the lawyers, even if they can’t control the judges.

    Much of the chaos in the country is caused by Executive Orders. People view them as if they are legal documents. Royal proclamations. Everybody must jump to the president’s will. However, they are merely glorified memorandums, directing the government bureaucracy to focus on certain tasks. And yet everybody behaves as if this is a new law that must be obeyed.

    Law firms should know this. When a new orange order comes along targeting them, they should simply use the massive legal firepower they have to tell the government to mind its own business. Instead, they have simply turned their legal services over to the government. Good for the government – not only do they get free service, but fewer opponents.

    At least there is now some resistance. Other firms are being targeted. By now, the bad intentions of the regime are obvious. In any case, like all protection rackets, the extortionists have taken the first payment and are now coming back for more.

    These efforts are succeeding, for the time being. At the same time, Harvard has commendably taken a stand to defend its independence and integrity from maga’s ideological attacks. They may as well go down fighting than just simply give in.

  • You can do anything with computers these days

    It’s 2025, a quarter of the way through the 21st century. I’m stuck by the way I still so often think in 20th century terms. I was wondering how the administration will spy on its citizens and I initially imagined millions of inoffizielle Mitarbeiter informing the government about the indiscretions of family, friends and colleagues. The answer is staring me in the face as I write.

    Beyond destroying government departments, DOGE has been consistently targeting databases. Getting these is illegal, but that’s hardly a problem. They can now move all the data from all branches of government into a single dataset. At this point, the government can find out literally everything about anybody they want.

    On top of this is social media. They’ve already got AI trawling through everybody’s accounts, looking for signs of dissent. It’s just practice at the moment, getting rid of foreigners. It will work for everybody else just as well soon enough.

    It’s something AI is very good at. Fast and cheap. Produces pretty good results. It will make frequent mistakes, but that’s no problem. Collateral damage. None of those obeying Grok are going to question who to sack or disappear. It’s not their job and it takes too much time anyway. Who cares if you ruin a person’s life anyway? Empathy is causing the Downfall Of Western Civilisation.

    The best we can hope is that Peter Thiel is incompetent.

  • Trans obsession

    Maine has distinguished itself by not implementing a set of illegal orange orders intended to persecute transes. The astonishingly thin-skinned president has reacted by withdrawing money for school dinners. Classy. And illegal. He is also now illegally withholding money for the Maine prison system for the same reason.

    Southern states are taking the initiative. Florida has just sacked a teacher for calling a student by their preferred name, not as recorded on their birth certificate. This is a new law that they are zealously enforcing. Mississippi is banning all books about trans from public and research libraries on the grounds of “obscenity”.

    RFK is putting the NIH over to studying transition “regret” as part of his effort to destroy science and punish scientists. He’s got the best worm-eaten brains working on a report to say trans doesn’t exist.

    Trans people exist because they say they exist. Maga, on the other hand insists that transes don’t exist. This isn’t a difference of opinion, “both siding”. On the one hand, transes are an observable pattern of human behaviour which is consistent across the world; on the other, maga makes a blunt assertion forced through by the power of the state. Maga is telling people what they must feel or believe, and how they must lead their lives. They don’t listen to anybody: they order people what to think. Or else.

    It is rank, irrational prejudice. This is after only three months.

  • Unreal

    China and the USA are biting chunks out of each other, raising the ante over tariffs. Incredible as it seems, China is the honest actor, by being basically rational and genuinely the victim in this battle.

    It’s worth looking at what else is happening in the land of fantasy economics. President Bonespurs wants a strong military, and is planning a Pentagon budget of $1trillion. Maybe they’ve saved enough money from social security and destroying the health system to pay for this.

    Savings from USAID will definitely cover the network of “detention centers” that they want to build around the country, in order to process “immigrants” or whoever else crosses their path.

    There are plans for a large military parade through Washington to honour the president on his birthday. The timetable is a bit tight though. Maybe they will get it done in time.

    Of course, the money wasn’t allocated for any of these things, but Congress doesn’t seem to mind. They aren’t doing anything to stop it at any rate.

    Getting away from the money, there is one positive thing for us Germans – we don’t need to worry about any guilt about the shoah anymore. At least not according to the Leader of the Free World, who talked about the generous and kind treatment that the Jews received from the nazis. Netanyahu was sitting next to him. Unlike Zelensky – who answered back – Bibi just took it. Disgraceful.

  • Rewarding the great leader

    I’ve been rather negative in my opinions of the 47th POTUS. However, some people are very happy to see him in power and they are already queuing up to shower him with awards and recognition.

    New York Representative Claudia Tenney has introduced a new bill to declare 14th July – Corleone’s birthday – to be a national holiday. And why not? She is arguably correct to say that “no modern president has been more pivotal for our country”, but even so I think it’s a bit far to describe him as “the founder of America’s Golden Age”.

    They want his image on a new $250 bill as well. Good idea. This will make it easier for the 51st state to accept their new ruler. They already have the King on their banknotes.

    Renaming Dulles airport also makes a lot of sense. The USAians currently have a grievance against Europeans for not doing more to keep the Suez Canal/ Red Sea searoute running. What better than to punish the memory of the man who was responsible for this policy back in 1956?

    The literal crown has to be Mount Rushmore. Congresswoman Luna wants to carve the fifth face as a permanent record to his “bold leadership and steadfast dedication to America’s greatness”. Marvellous.

    There were bootlickers in the East German Volkskammer as well. But even they waited until the boss was dead, or at least out of office, first.

  • Procrastination makes you go blind

    Big protests in Türkiye. Erdogan has imprisoned his main rival. The Türks have clearly had enough of their dictator and are trying to get rid of him. I wish them all the best.

    Reading through news feeds and the stories of protests, authoritarianism and government violence, I have to check carefully if it is about Türkiye or the USA. Judging by responses on social media, I’m not the only one to be confused.

    The US media is not so confused. They know how to deal with stories like this. It’s some unstable foreign country, where they don’t value freedom anyway because they are not white and what else do you expect. The complacency of the media can be explained to a large extent by their oligarch owners.

    And the opposition? AOC is making an effort, but the Democrats are relying on procedure and precedent to solve the problem. They have set their red line for when the government defies the Supreme Court. Then they will spring into action.

    Two problems with this. First is that the bad guys already routinely ignore other courts already, no need to wait. Second, it presumes that there will be a clash between the Executive and Supreme Court.

    The mob is running rampant. Their mates in the Supreme Court will just nod approvingly. The Democrat strategy is to pray to their constitution to save them, until such time as they are told to shut up.